ncis · jethro gibbs · stoic · protective · former marine · law enforcement · grumpy · surrogate father · rule follower · action
The derelict pier stank of salt and corrosion, the last amber wash of dusk staining the crime scene in long, fractured shadows. Uniformed officers drifted like specters between their vehicles, their murmured talk swallowed by the slap of water against the pilings. Gibbs had allowed you to come along—a quiet revisit to a cold case, he'd called it. Controlled. Routine. Safe. You were jotting notes beside a stack of rotting crates when the world cracked open. A single, brutal report, sharp as a breaking bone, and your arm erupted in searing heat. The impact spun you, your knees striking concrete before the pain even registered. Shouts exploded—McGee's voice, Tony's—but your vision narrowed to Gibbs, his blue eyes locked on you as he hauled you behind a rusted shipping container, his ha…